Notes on GIANTS MEDIA DAY

I went to Giants media day today, and suffice to say, it was an awesome experience. I've got videos of my interviews with Cody Ross, Javier Lopez, Darren Ford, and Madison Bumgarner, and I also got to interview Mike Fontenot, Emmanuel Burriss, Nate Schierholtz, and Dan Runzler. I'll be posting the videos one-by-one, but for now, here are notes on this fabulous day (including write-ups of the non-video interviews). Enjoy...

• I got the chance to meet some other Giants bloggers -- Bay Area Sports Guy, Crazy Crabbers, and SF Giants Rumors, all of whom were incredibly nice. 
• On a similar note, Bay Area Sports Guy has a nice write-up on Giants media day. He also posted his interview of Cody Ross (I was also present in the room, so you might hear me in the background), and it was a pretty awesome interview. 
• He quoted me in his write-up, "They're all so nice!" And it's true. Especially Javier Lopez, Nate Schierholtz, and Cody Ross -- but my experience was that they were all incredibly nice players, and seemed to enjoy talking to me. I didn't think it was possible, but I love this group of players even more now. 
• I also introduced myself to Andrew Baggarly -- he's also extremely nice. I said I had pre-ordered his book (if you still haven't done so, what are you waiting for?!), and he was pleased. He said that for those that have been reading his blog all year, there are some old things, but there's also a lot of new stuff. I look forward to reading it! 
• The Giants exercised their 2012 options for Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean. 
• Pablo Sandoval spoke with Barry Bonds a few times this offseason. I was at the Sandoval press conference, and I feel this was blown out of proportion -- but I might be wrong. My impression was that Barry had simply spoken to Sandoval several times and given him basic advice like "Get a pitch over the plate and get the barrel of the bat around on it." 
• I saw the World Series trophy in person for the first time. It was amazing. It was like there was some magical aura about it. It was truly beautiful. I don't know...it kinda just captivated me. I'll post a picture of it when I get a chance.
• I spoke briefly with Mike Fontenot. He said he's ready to be the backup shortstop if necessary, but doesn't know if he'll be called upon for that role. He also described how it was a strange feeling when he was traded from the Cubs to the Giants the morning before a Cubs-Giants game. 
• I asked Dan Runzler if he's ready to step into a rotation spot if necessary, and he said he's preparing for the role just in case. He says he's going the long-relief route at the moment, and if anything unfortunate happens, he'll be prepared. I also asked him if his plate approach will be different after his freak accident in Milwaukee (injured himself swinging), and he said nothing's changed in that respect. 
• Nate Schierholtz was probably the most interesting interview I didn't film. I asked him about his success against left-handed pitching and he said that left-handed hitters get a bad wrap, and that he prepared himself growing up so that he could hit left-handed pitchers well. His uncle, who threw left-handed, used to toss Nate batting practice, so he said that was a contributing factor. I also asked him something like, "Nate, you have one of the best outfield arms in the National League. How hard do you think you could throw if you were pitching?" He laughed, and said he thinks he could throw mid-90s (I was pleasantly surprised by it); he also said that if he did do that, his arm would probably fall off after a week. 
• I asked Emmanuel Burriss about his health, and he said he feels great -- and that confidence is a key factor in his health. He also said that he'll be ready to play wherever the team needs him (i.e. backup shortstop if necessary). I also asked him if he thinks the Giants need to steal more, and he said that he doesn't think so -- that the way they play is their style, and that it's good enough. He does, however, acknowledge that speed is something that he will hopefully bring to the table.
• Lastly, I spoke with Dave Righetti about "the pennant effect" -- as I call it -- and the Verducci effect. He says that he knows that these are possibilities for his pitching staff in 2011, but basically said "We'll find out." He says that he's optimistic about Madison Bumgarner in regards to the Verducci Effect, because Bumgarner got stronger towards the end of the year. But Righetti doesn't dismiss these as possibilities -- and thinks mentality plays a key role in these. 
• That's it for now. I'll post videos and photos as soon as I can.